The present invention relates to a storage unit for substantially parallelepiped-shaped products.
The present invention may be used to particular advantage for producing storage units for packets of cigarettes, to which the following description refers purely by way of example.
In the tobacco industry, storage units for packets of cigarettes are normally employed between a production machine, normally a packing or cellophaning machine, and a user machine, normally a cellophaning or cartoning machine respectively, to compensate for differences in the output of the two machines.
Known packet storage units are normally FILO (First In-Last Out) types, i.e. having an input and output normally coincident with each other. Units of this sort are normally located on line and relatively compact, but have the drawback of a certain number of packets being retained for a relatively long period of time.
FIFO (First In-First Out) packet storage units are also known, which eliminate the above drawback, but which feature long coiled conveyors which are not only relatively fragile, i.e. subject to frequent damage, but also result in relatively large structures.
DE19506196 discloses a device for supplying, storing and distributing rows of products; the device comprises an input station, an output station and an intermediate FIFO store with a conveyor. In the output station there are at least two vertically off-set lift elements for sliding out the rows of products from at least two tables in the same beat onto a second and third conveyor. The conveyor device for the second and third conveyor runs across the conveyor direction of the first conveyor so that columns can be formed from the rows of products. The tables can be fixed in gondolas which hang at regular intervals with swivel movement from the conveyor.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a storage unit for substantially parallelepiped-shaped products, designed to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks.
More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a storage unit for substantially parallelepiped-shaped products, which is a FIFO type, and which at the same time is as compact and strong as possible.
According to the present invention, there is provided a storage unit for substantially parallelepiped-shaped products, as claimed in claim 1 and, preferably, in any one of the following claims dependent directly or indirectly on claim 1.